The iTunes Store is giving away the Red Hot Chili Peppers' latest album for free, in a manner of speaking. iTunes is serving up a stream of the entire album for free, and accepting pre-orders for the disc, which will be released on August 30 [iTunes].

We can't remember Apple offering up an entire album via streaming before. It's likely that RHCP's record label is paying a hefty price to Apple for this promotion and its prominent placement on the iTunes Store front page.

First impression of the new album: About what I expected. Not quite on par with their older albums but I can still get into it. Favorite songs thus far are (not in order) Adventures of Raindance Maggie, Police Station, Ethiopia, Factory of Faith, Look Around, and Did I Let You Know.